


Mercy of the Frontier

by FuckTruck



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Siblings, Survival, Titanfall 2 (Titanfall)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:54:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26153005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FuckTruck/pseuds/FuckTruck
Summary: Zoo-Wee-Mama, 2020 has NOT been good to me at all.This story follows Shane and Walton through the planet Troy and beyond in search of a new home that will not separate the siblings. Each chapter will focus on a highlight in their journey that is related to the prompt for that day. This is definitely more of a Titanfall fic than an Apex one, so there will be no canon Apex characters in the story. This is somewhat of an origin story for my Apex OC that I wanted to tell through the 31 days of Apex event, so I guess it still fits.
Kudos: 4





	1. Day 1: Memory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so I jumped on the whole 31 days of Apex thing not thinking I would get REALLY INTO IT, but here we are. This was supposed to be something lighthearted and non stressful for me to work on while work was going crazy, but my anxiety got out of hand and well... you'll see. I have all of the days written, now it's just the matter of editing and posting the chapters when depression allows it. 
> 
> Also, this will have 0 canon Apex characters in it. That's because it's following the childhood of my Apex OC who you'll see in a future fic that I've been cooking up in the depths of my brain for most of 2020. This story is meant to give some background info on her and a few other characters in said fic. HOWEVER, I am also a huge Titanfall fan and this is all in the same universe, so expect cameos later on in the story. 
> 
> Okay I'll let you read it now.

Her crying had been reduced to nothing but sniffles by now as Walton cut the last of her waist length hair up to her shoulders. Black curls gracefully fell all around her feet and the legs of her chair. He tried to comfort her for the fifth time since he started. 

"It doesn't look bad."

"She liked it long."

That was an understatement. She  _ loved  _ it long, her mother. Shane would complain nonstop while her mom braided the wild locks so gently the way she did every day. She could remember the day her mom offered to cut it so Shane could do it herself, how she burst into tears and begged her not to after realizing just how important those moments truly were. 

"I know but… we don't know what to do with it right now. It'll grow back."

Only problem with that was, her hair was the one thing she had to remind her of her mother. She'd been holding on to that matted, filthy braid for a week now. It was the last one her mom was able to put in her hair before all hell broke loose when a group of unruly soldiers and robots stormed their town. The IMC was cleaning up any stragglers they missed during previous raids on Shane and Walton's homeplanet, Troy. Their little family just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when the unit rolled into one of the lesser known towns they lived in. 

"You might wanna keep this, though." He said as he waved the yellow ribbon that struggled to hold the messy braid together for the past two weeks in front of her face. "Here, gimme your hand."

Shane watched wide eyed as he tied the band around her little wrist. 

"Forgot it was there, huh?" He said with a smile that she mirrored while nodding. 

The ten year old wiped the tears from her wet cheeks and took a few deep breaths. As weird as the feeling was, it was refreshing not to have all that hair to worry about anymore, even though she'd miss it like hell. "Thanks, Walt."

"No problem. Let's get some sleep."

Before he could even begin to start sweeping her hair away, she called out to him. "Did you get anything yet? From mom or dad?"

Walton's heart ached at that question. He promised Shane he'd let her know as soon as a call or text from either one of their parents came through. Still, that didn't stop her from asking every time she remembered over the past two weeks. There was dwindling hope for a response from one of them. It was getting progressively harder to find any building or abandoned vehicle with power for him to charge his phone. It had been days since he charged it and the device was on its last leg yet again. 

"Not yet, but… but maybe they just need a little more time."

_ Who am I kidding? It's already been two weeks and I haven't gotten anything.  _

Shane frowned, obviously not satisfied with that answer, but she yammered on anyway. "Think mom is gonna freak out when she sees my hair?"

The smirk he threw her way was weak and forced like they always were when she brought up the topic of their parents. "Totally. Now, go to sleep."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the first handful of chapters are chill like this. Enjoy it while it lasts.
> 
> I'm also @tomhenks over on Tumblr, so if you have any questions about Shane and/or Walton, you can ask me there.


	2. Day 2: Blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! Here's the second chapter. Everything's still pretty chill so far. I'll be uploading a few more chapters today as well if I don't get destroyed by the lightning storm we have going on outside!

"Stick your arm out like this and look through the little lines… those right there." Walton pointed at the iron sights on the pistol that his younger sister adjusted in her hand. "See if you can hit that sign."

While exploring the ruins of another nearby town, they'd found a gun in the hand of a skeleton with more than a few rounds to have some fun with. Walton promised he'd teach Shane how to shoot with it some time soon. Of course, 'soon' for her translated to 'right now'. She bothered him non-stop for an hour until he caved. The siblings were settled on the roof of an abandoned building they were staying in for the night. There, they had a perfect view of multiple easy targets to shoot at for practice. 

He went first, drawing multiple amazed gasps from Shane. With the extra strength he had in his arm and his prior experience with pistols of all kinds, Walton thought it would be a good idea to show off and shoot with one hand on the gun instead of two. This proved to do more harm than good since the first thing Shane did when her turn came was stick the gun out in front of her with only one hand. He sighed and reached out to take it from her, but she hastily yanked it away with a whine. 

"Dude, you gotta use two hands," he scolded her. 

Shane held the gun away from his grasp and proceeded to argue. "You did it! Why can't I?"

And then a light bulb flicked on in his brain. Perhaps he should take this opportunity to teach her a very valuable lesson. 

"Alright. Go ahead. You  _ clearly _ know what you're doing."

The sarcasm in his tone flew straight over her head and she smiled wide when he stepped out of her way. Walton stood off to the side with his arms crossed, shaking his head to himself when she aimed the weapon with one hand, the same way he'd done. Shane pulled the trigger and shouted when the pistol recoiled and popped her in the nose. Walton doubled over in laughter and she glared knives at him with one hand covering her face. "That's not funny!"

"Hey, I tried to warn you. That's why you're supposed to shoot with  _ two _ hands. Not one. C'mere." He said, getting the last of his giggles out as he beaconed her over. 

Shane hastily threw the gun to the ground and held one hand over her bloodied nose before making her way over to him. It took every bit of strength she had left to not tackle him to the ground and wipe her nose all over his shirt. He reached into the backpack they'd salvaged for a cloth that she could hold up to her face. 

"How come  _ you _ shot it with one hand?" She questioned with her high pitched, nasally voice. 

"One, I'm stronger than you and I can handle the recoil. And two, I used to shoot these with dad all the time. You can try it again, you just have to use both hands next time."

Shane rolled her eyes, but kept that piece of advice and the minor head injury in the back of her mind. 

  
Walton picked up the gun and started to give her a whole lesson on recoil and how to handle the initial kick-back of the shot with  _ two _ hands this time. And like always, she pretended to not care or listen to a word he was saying out of sheer frustration and annoyance, but he continued on knowing she was absorbing all of the information like a sponge. Especially now that she'd learned her lesson. 


	3. Day 3: Mercy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More wholesomeness! Enjoy!

Shane raised the pistol just like he had shown her a few days ago, and aimed the barrel steadily towards the clearing. Walton's mouth watered as she pointed the gun at the dog-like creature that was leisurely digging for god knows what in the dirt. He could already taste the roasted meat on his tongue. All she needed to do was pull the trigger and they'd have dinner for two days at the most. 

"Okay, you're good. You can shoot," He whispered with a hint of urgency in his tone. 

Jesus, what was taking her so long? 

"Shane. Shoot it. Come on."

"Hold up!" She hissed, causing the animal to raise its head and twist its pricked ears in their direction. They remained silent and statue-like for a minute until it went back to pawing at the ground. Another minute passed and she lowered the gun to her side and watched the little creature do its thing. 

"The hell? What are you doing?" 

She shrugged. "I mean… we don't  _ have _ to kill it. We have enough chips and Prowler Crunch for right now."

"But don't you want real  _ meat _ ?"

"Yeah, but… look at it, Walt. It didn't do nothin' wrong."

_ Neither did we, but we still got fucked over in the end. _

He sighed in defeat. There was no use arguing with her or wrestling for the gun because it would just scare the damned thing away. His backpack hit the ground and shifted the leaves beneath him. The animal looked up as it chewed on its breakfast in worry, but quickly returned to eating when they remained still and proved to be no immediate threat. Walton plopped down next to his backpack and Shane took a seat next to him. 

"So you're telling me"– he ripped a medium sized bag of Harro Crisps from his pack –"You'd rather eat  _ this _ than  _ that _ over there." He said while nodding his head in the animal's direction. 

"Mmm. Yeah. I bet this tastes better."

"We could still find out."

Shane gave him a playful slug in the shoulder before reaching for a chip and preparing to throw it. 

"What are you doing?" Walton asked. 

"Seein' if it wants a chip." She whispered out loud without looking at him. The chip was flung in the creature's direction and it leapt back at the sound of Shane's grunt when she launched it. 

Walton shook his head and went to snatch the bag away from her, but she just swapped hands and held it farther away from him. "Dude, cut it out! We need to save that!"

" _ We need to save that _ ." She mocked with her tongue flapping out of her mouth. 

"Shane. I'm serious–stop that. You're wasting–"

He was cut off when her tiny hand waved frantically just inches away from his face. She then pointed towards the animal that had approached the food offering and began to sniff it. "Walt, look!"

"Yeah, I see it," he growled. 

They both watched as its nose ghosted over the barbecue flavored chip and gave it a taste test with a little lick. It gently took the piece into its mouth and munched away before looking back in Shane's direction, as if it was asking for more. She was more than happy to oblige and tossed it another chip. Walton sighed heavily and leaned back with his palms in the dirt. He completely gave up on trying to get the ten year old to understand food rations and watched the scene unfold in front of him.

This continued on for a few minutes until the creature ran off into the dense forestry just to the side. Shane groaned when it did so, and Walton gave her knee a nudge with his own. "Hey, that leaves more for you, amirite? Let's save the rest for later." She finally relinquished the bag to her older brother and he shoved it down into his backpack with the rest of their snacks. "C'mon, we gotta keep moving."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this chapter and a couple of others got me thinking about making cereal and snacks for the TF universe. I just wanna draw what the boxes/bags might look like in their world since I think it would be a really cute and fun idea! I'll keep y'all updated on that front.


	4. Day 4: Prize

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a small note: I imagine a "mall" on Troy is nothing like a mall you'd probably see in a major city on Earth. I say it's a mall, but it's more like one giant warehouse looking building with a bunch of booths scattered about on the inside with whatever the merchs were selling.
> 
> Okay! You can read now!

"Walton! Walt–Walt–Walt, look!"

He sighed as he dragged himself towards his bouncing sister. Shane was off the walls the second they entered the abandoned, mini mall. Every two seconds, something new caught her attention. This time, he truly couldn't, for the life of him, figure out what the hell she was so excited about. 

"Yeah? 'S just an old booth." He said with a yawn. "We gotta keep moving."

"Wait–waaaaait. You gotta get me one of those!" She whined as she waved a finger towards the many long-necked stuffed animals that hung above the booth. 

Walton looked down at her with a muddled gaze. "Aren't you too old for that?"

Oh, if looks could kill. 

The glare was all he needed to shut his mouth and reach up for one of the stuffed dinosaurs. That was when a more than splendid idea popped into his head. He rapidly started taking all of the stuffed animals down. Shane smiled and reached for one, thinking he was gonna hand it over, but watched in frustration when he moved past her and started to place them all around the middle of the mall. Once everything was lined up the way he wanted, he swore under his breath and turned to her. "Umm… which one did you want?"

"Why? What are–"

"Just pick one."

Shane shrugged and pointed at the teal Nessie with the tan underbelly that he perched on the arm of a bench. Walton quickly snatched that one up and placed it where she couldn't reach. "If you want it–" he took the Wingman from his backpack and checked the chamber to make sure it was loaded "–you gotta win it."

"What?"

"It'll be fun!"

Fun. That's something they hadn't come across for a while. Back at home in the colony, they'd spend hours upon hours with the rest of the town's kids, making up games as well as playing with electronics that had been passed down from older generations. Walton found himself missing the simplest game of them all, which was baseball. One memory in particular crossed his mind. It was the day when all the kids in the colony gathered together near the gates for a game. He was the first batter and sent one ball careening through Mr. Edd's window, effectively destroying his only computer screen. His chest clenched at the sight of the middle aged man stomping out of his house, red faced and barking at the whole group like a mad dog. 

_Damn, I even miss being on Mr. Edd's shit list every afternoon._ Walton buried his thoughts along with the homesickness he was starting to feel from the flashback. 

If you shoot all the other ones, you get… whatever the fuck that thing is."

"Walton!" She shouted with a laugh. 

"What? No one's around." He chuckled before standing back at her side. Shane took the pistol from his hand and positioned the gun directly in front of her. With _two_ hands, this time. 

It took more than a few wasted rounds, but she was finally able to hit one. As soon as the bullet reached the stuffed toy, it exploded into a cloud of cotton and Shane burst out laughing. Walton couldn't stop the giggle that bubbled up in his chest when she continued to blast the rest of the plushies. By the time she was done –which was after a good ten minutes– there was cotton and bits of fabric strewn everywhere. He nodded in approval when she hit the final target. "You're gettin' good at this."

The praise made her dimpled smile shine as she scrunched up her nose. Walton's heart skipped a beat when he saw nothing but his mother's features in her little freckled face. 

"Give me my Nessie or you're next."

Walton threw his hands up in defense at the threat. "Alright, alright. I'll get your damn Nestie."

" _Nessie_." She corrected him. 

"Whatever. Here, shithead."

The insult went largely ignored as she smiled down at the little stuffed plushie, turning and squeezing it in her hands as she admired its considerable size. She was stoked that it was large enough to use as a pillow. 

The pair were on the move again after the dinosaur was placed in her backpack, this time with much less complaining coming from Shane. When they got just outside the mall she turned and walked backwards so she could ask her brother a question that had been brewing at the back of her mind since this whole journey started. "Hey, Walt? Can I say bad words too?"

Walton pretended to mull the question over in his head for a while before responding with a smile. He offered a forearm bump that their father had taught them when they were younger. "I don't see why the fuck not."

  
She waited for him to catch up before balling her hand into a fist and slamming her arm against his in the air. " _Fuck_ yeah."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still pretty lighthearted right now. This nessie toy will turn up later on in IGYAH.


	5. Day 5: Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a sad moment between the gremlins.

"We're not gonna see them again, are we?" She asked from behind her brother. 

Walton stopped in his tracks and she did the same. His shoulders visibly tensed when the question was asked, and he let them fall with a deep sigh. He knew this conversation would happen sooner rather than later. Everyday they went without Shane asking if he heard from their parents was a shock to him. The questions became less frequent, and eventually, they stopped altogether. After almost a month, Walton completely gave up on making sure his phone was constantly charged just in case something came through. The stress of finding a place to charge his device coupled with the heartbreak of no messages coming through became tiresome really quick. 

The last time Shane asked, they had just come across the mini mall and her question went ignored for the most part. Staying silent became easier than formulating some galaxy-brained theory on how their parents  _ might  _ still be alive and actively searching for them. The topic was starting to wear on him every time it was brought up, though. He wanted to put it to rest for good, and now was a perfect time to do so. 

"Sit. We gotta talk." Walton said with a sigh. 

With that frown and the way he huffed, Shane already knew the answer, but she obliged. Her backpack was set down near a boulder and she sat beside the gargantuan rock for some shade. Walton did the same and sat right across from her. There was a long silence before he said anything.

"I know what you're gonna say." Shane said before he could even start. "You don't have to say it."

At that, he absently started to play with the Nessie's head that was sticking out of her backpack. "Yeah. Um…" he honestly had no idea what else to do besides sit there like an idiot.

"I won't ask anymore. I just… we never talked about it and I didn't… I won't ask. I'm sorry." With both of them being at a loss for words, this was getting super awkward super fast. Shane could see how visibly uncomfortable he was and wanted this to be the final nail in the coffin for this conversation. She could tell he wanted the same thing. 

Walton released the head of the plush toy with a sigh. "No,  _ I'm  _ sorry. I should've been straight up with you from the start. I kept lying and giving you false hope and it's…" He began to fidget with a blade of grass between his fingers. "I should apologize, not you. You didn't do anything wrong."

They both went silent for a moment before Shane broke it with another question. "You think we should ask someone for help?"

The idea crossed his mind multiple times – when they met with a small platoon of Militia soldiers camping in an abandoned town, when they came across the radio station with an active signal, and when he found a bag full of emergency distress flares.  Time weathered both of the kids down as the weeks flew by. They were now on their own for a month and with no idea of where they were going or why. Shane made a game out of the whole survival situation at first, but it was starting to get to her. It was getting to both of them. But there was one thing he  _ needed _ to address before they went any further. 

"Okay… there's a reason why I never called for help."

"Why?"

He sighed more deeply the second time. "If anyone finds out we're homeless, you know what they'll do?"

She shook her head innocently. 

"They could split us up. It might not happen right away, but it could still happen. They'll take care of us–I know it. But…" He trailed off. 

" _ But _ ?"

"Mom and dad are gone. You're all I got, and I'm all you have… what if they split us up and we never see each other again?"

At that, Shane was speechless. She didn't know much about the system or how orphans were dealt with in the Frontier, but the possibility of them being ripped from one another scared her more than anything they'd faced so far. She had no idea what life was like without her brother and she didn't want to find out anytime soon. 

"Oh." Was all she could respond with as she nudged a few pebbles around with the tip of her tattered shoe. 

"Hey, I won't be mad if you wanna call it quits. I'm just telling you why  _ I _ haven't done it" – he took the flare gun from the side flap of his backpack – "I kept this. In case you wanted to…"

It was a more than heavy decision for a ten year old girl. Walton had literally been with her since the day she was born. While he may have been her worst enemy at times over the years, he was always her closest friend. The loss of their parents was bad enough, but losing each other would be the final nail in the coffin for them both. He gave her a puzzled look when she sighed and rose from her seat on the rotting wood. "Where you goin'?"

"We gotta find us a roof, right? C'mon, get up." She said, giving his boot a nudge with her foot. 

Walton felt so many emotions washing over him like a tidal wave in that tiny moment. They were mostly positive feelings, though. He couldn't stop himself from smiling as he shoved the flare gun back into its pouch and the two of them continued on. Even though they were down to two, they're still a family. No system would change that. Not ever. 


	6. Day 6: Noise

The rumbling noise came back with a vengeance. It started out low, but it grew and eventually turned into a roar. He stopped in front of the girl and turned to face her. Her expression twisted in displeasure. She knew exactly what he was going to say. 

"Do we need to stop?"

"No."

"Your stomach is growling."

"No it's not."

"I _literally_ just heard it."

Shane sighed and nudged the pebbles at her feet around with her shoe. 

"What's your problem?"

"It's just… " She stopped and sighed without continuing. 

"Just what?"

"We're almost out of Pilot Crisps and I don't wanna eat all of them already."

"Dude, just eat it."

"What about you?"

With most of their journey in the past few days filled with mostly dense woods, their food supply slowly diminished without them finding much along the way. The only thing that remained was a container of stale crackers that had been mostly torn through by now. 

"Okay, okay. Let's stop here." 

"But are you gon–"

" _Yes_. I'll eat too. Just sit."

She smiled, more than satisfied with that answer. 

They sat side by side with their backs against a gargantuan tree that shielded them from the sun. The box of Pilot Crisps was whipped out of Walton's backpack. He removed the last packet of crackers and twisted it open. Shane's eyes stayed glued to the tan squares as he tore at the plastic around them. She had to swallow multiple times to keep herself from drooling at the sight. 

Walton chuckled when he saw her expression and spilled the rest of the crackers into the empty box, placing it between them. She would insist that they count every individual cracker and split it in half between the two of them. This way, however, she was able to eat without worrying about the amount either of them were really consuming since it was a reach and grab thing. Shane would end up eating more than him, and that's exactly what he wanted. 

They munched silently on the crackers for a good ten minutes before it was all gone. His sister's shirt and cheeks were littered with crumbs. She reached for the box and flipped it over, seriously studying the back. Walton peered over her shoulder and took a glance at what she was reading. 

"Think that's a real pilot helmet?" He asked. 

The girl shrugged her shoulders. "Dunno."

A silence fell between them as she finished reading the box. 

"Here. Lemme see."

She handed the box over and looked at him with curiosity as he began to rip it apart. Walton tore at one side until he reached the middle, then he began to tear around the image of the pilot helmet. 

"What're you doing?" She asked, wrinkling her nose at the sound. 

"We can still win one, don'tcha think?"

She rolled her eyes. "We don't even have a home or-or a computer."

"Not _yet_. Says right here the code doesn't expire. We got all the time in the world." He said with a smile that quickly faded away when she played with a few blades of grass between her fingers. 

"You really think we'll find another home?"

The truth was on the tip of his tongue, but his true feelings were the last thing she needed to hear right about now. 

"'Course we will. When that happens–" He wiggled the thin piece of cardboard in her face, "–this is the first thing we'll do. Sound good?"

The small but noticeable grin he was waiting for appeared on her face. "Yeah. Sounds good."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where have I been???? I honestly have no excuses. Depression sucks and I completely forgot that all the chapters were sitting here on ao3. All I have to do is edit and upload them. I'm really sorry about slacking on my writing lately. I promise I'll try to do better!


End file.
